Why does Aniplex keep getting the good anime before Funimation does?

Hey everyone. So, Idk how licensing works so please forgive my ignorance, but I'm really jealous of Aniplex' catalog of shows they have. Many titles which I wish that Funimation was able to license instead. Like Blue Exorcist, Blast of Tempest, etc. The reason why I hate Aniplex is because I hate how they handle their home releases. They only seem to offer limited edition versions of their shows, and rarely seem to release standard DVD/BD like Funimation offers. And the reason I bring this up is because I was looking forward to one of the upcoming Spring shows, Kiznaiver, and what do you know? Blasted Aniplex licenses it. So can somebody elucidate as to why Funimation isn't able to license these high quality shows that Aniplex keeps getting? Is it just that Aniplex has more money at their disposal or what?

Seems Sony wants to keep it in the family. Shame, too, while the dubs that they do are good, the prices harken back to the full cost of the 6-8 dvd sets a series would have from the late 90's to mid 2000's…

At least it seems the dub of Durarara is on the Funimation streaming at the moment... Wanted to watch it since I caught a few episodes on Toonami way back when.

Not REALLY, although starting recently with Dimension W, they are on a production committee. That means that they get exclusive rights to distribute a title in the US as well as sort of guide the way it's being made.

But as far as "making" anime, no. FUNimation does not, has never, and more than likely will never "make" anime. They only license it from Japan.

Can you explain what that means exactly by "producing"? If Bones animated it, then what does it mean if Aniplex produced it? Thanks.

Haven't you ever seen a television show or movie before? Did you never see the opening credits where it says "Produced by" or "Executive Produced by"? This is the same with anime. The producers are the ones with the most control over the direction of a film or a show. Executive Producers put the most money into a project, but don't do anything else other than that.

A show/movie is more likely to go on for longer periods of time depending on the executive producer. Why? M-O-N-E-Y. Money does wonders. As for producers, they are the ones who manage the money and make sure everything that happens in a film or show is up to their standards. Changes to scripts, actors, scenes, movie titles, and so on are all decided by the producers. Evangelion 3.33 is an example of this.

Thanks for the clarification. So is there a particular reason that Funimation isn't able to produce their own shows as well? Do they simply lack the capital for it? I feel like we are gonna miss out on acquiring a lot of awesome shows in the future because Aniplex is just gonna pick up all the good stuff since Funimation isn't willing to produce anything.

Thanks for the clarification. So is there a particular reason that Funimation isn't able to produce their own shows as well? Do they simply lack the capital for it? I feel like we are gonna miss out on acquiring a lot of awesome shows in the future because Aniplex is just gonna pick up all the good stuff since Funimation isn't willing to produce anything.

I wouldn't worry too much about Aniplex. Yes, they have a number of interesting shows[Saekano, Your Lie in April, Erased] but FUNimation has great relations with other Japanese companies like Kodansha [Attack on Titan] and Toei [Dragon Ball], and they are the biggest anime company in North America. They'll get cool shows. I just would hope that they aren't biting off more than they can chew as far as license acquistions.

Thanks for the clarification. So is there a particular reason that Funimation isn't able to produce their own shows as well? Do they simply lack the capital for it? I feel like we are gonna miss out on acquiring a lot of awesome shows in the future because Aniplex is just gonna pick up all the good stuff since Funimation isn't willing to produce anything.

I don't think its an unwillingness to produce but more like there isn't any representation in Japan. Unlike Aniplex or Pony Canyon who have their parent company in Japan, I don't think Funimation has a company with similar ties.

Aniplex is a Japanese production company that created an American licensing branch in the United States. Meanwhile, Funimation is only an American licensing company. They do not work in Japan nor do they have a production branch. For Dimension W, Funimation was able to bring one of their employees over to Japan to work directly with the production committee. When I say "committee", I mean that the person is one of many producers for the show. Each member of the committee works on a particular field of work. For example, there is a producer who focuses on the music, another producer focusing on the animation, another focusing on the voice acting, another focusing on advertising, etc.

It has not been specified what the Funimation staff member is in charge of, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was advertising. There might also be a subsection of the advertising branch focusing specifically on overseas advertising, which is what Disney does with Studio Ghibli movies.

Aniplex is a Japanese production company that created an American licensing branch in the United States.

And remember, Aniplex is owned by Sony, so it is not surprising they they have been trying to consolidate their titles, as well as seeing the price of their BDs in particular (considering how much they go for in Japan, we're pretty damn lucky)…

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